AISI Welcomes Signing of New USMCA Trade Agreement

AISI praised the hard work on the part of the US administration to reach a new trade agreement.

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) issued a statement in response to the formal signing of the United States of America, Mexico and Canada Agreement (USMCA). The official signing of the agreement by US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during the recent G-20 summit.

A statement by Thomas J. Gibson, President and CEO of AISI, praised the hard work of the US administration to reach a new trade agreement. The USMCA builds on the success of an earlier NAFTA trade agreement, establishing new rules of origin that could further stimulate the use of North American steel. The new trade agreement also improves on the original NAFTA by creating new rules for currency manipulation and increasing the exchange of information between governments to better resolve trade conflicts. These enhancements will help improve NAFTA, he added.

Recently, Kevin Dempsey, senior vice president of public policy and general counsel for AISI, spoke about the positive impact the USMCA could have on the US steel industry. The association said the new agreement is likely to bring significant benefits to domestic steel producers in the United States.

Meanwhile, the formally negotiated pact that ended more than 15 months of difficult negotiation process now needs to be approved by Congress.